Ace of Spades
by Mischief's Angel
Summary: When Cara and her friends go on a vacation to New Orleans, the last thing they expected was trouble. However, when Cara runs into a familiar Cajun thief, their vacation takes a turn for the weirder. Car chases, Jewel heists, and..."Super Heroes"...?
1. Chapter 1

Part 1: 52 Pickup…Lines?

Music blared as Cara's cell phone almost vibrated itself off of her nightstand. The ring-tone kept playing loudly as Cara pulled her bed sheet up over her head and rolled over. When the music persisted, she absent mindedly reached out and smacked the snooze button of her alarm clock. When that failed she rolled over and saw her phone in a panic to be answered. She read the caller ID that read "Jamie" and slowly answered the phone.

"Hello?" Cara asked, in a slow sleepy voice.

"Wake up already!" replied a loud, bright, and cheery voice.

"Jamie! It's too early!" Cara grouched.

"Have you forgotten what today is? It's packing day!" Jamie stated, adding the last bit a little too loud for Cara's liking. Cara groaned and mumbled something into the phone. She had almost forgotten about the trip she had agreed to go on with her friends. Not so much agreed, as was pestered into breaking down and saying yes. Jamie broke Cara's thoughts by continuing her happy rant about the trip.

"Pack your stuff and get over here!" Jamie started, "Brooke's been here since seven o'clock and you're just now waking up!" Cara groaned at the mere thought of getting up at seven o'clock. She often had to get up that early for work, but had taken time off for this trip.

"Brooke and I are here packing, but you've gotta come help!" Jamie went on, "We have all the necessities for a pre-vacation breakfast: bagels, powered doughnuts, chocolate doughnuts, fruit salad, and don't forget coffee! You sound like you could use some!"

"Alright, you've convinced me," Cara said with a sleepy smile, "I'll pack my bags and be right over." Jamie chimed another happy comment and hung up. Cara dragged herself out of bed and moped down the hallway. Once she had retrieved a suitcase from her apartment's little storage closet, she slumped back to her room.

The next half-hour was spent tearing through closets and dresser drawers, trying to put together decent looking outfits. She would then ungracefully shove the clothes into her bag. The last item that caught her attention was a pretty dress in the very back corner of her closet. It was a deep purple color and, like most of Cara's nicest clothes, it still bared a store tag. She looked at it for a few minutes, put it back in her closet, and then pulled it out to be thrown in the suitcase. She grabbed a cute pair of shoes to match it and did the same with them. Finally, after wrestling with the stubborn zipper on the suitcase, she went out to her old, used car and was on her way.

Jamie eagerly threw open the door and hugged Cara. Cara dropped her back outside the door and gave a tired, half-conscious hug.

"You made it!" Jamie said, taking Cara's bag and flying back into the living room of her own apartment. Brooke sat calmly on the couch, coffee in hand. She seemed awake, as she usually did. Cara partly envied the part of her friends that could get up at 6 o'clock or so, and she also partly hated that they drug her into it. Jamie was still walking about in her comfy, teddy bear pajamas, with her light brown hair pulled up into a messy, yet cute bun. Brooke had a pair of jeans and a cute, dark blue top. Her caramel blonde hair sat perfectly on a tight French braid: a feat which, again, both impressed and annoyed Cara (mainly because all Cara had done was pull her hair back with whatever she could find to tie it).

"Want some breakfast?" Jamie asked happily, as she buzzed about the room collecting last minute packing items, "It's all on the kitchen counter!" Cara looked over to the kitchen counter to see every type of breakfast junk food imaginable. She muttered a happy "Thanks" and went to town on a chocolate doughnut and some coffee. Jamie ended the phone call that she had answered a few minutes ago.

"Was that the guys?" Cara asked, feeling more awake with all the sugar and coffee.

"Yup!" answered Brooke, "They're going to meet us at the front of the airport in an hour." Cara sat down, and she and Brooke relaxed on the couch as Jamie continued buzzing around.

The three girls all loaded up a cab and made for the airport, not long after. When they reached the front entrance, lugging all their stuff with them, they were met by Will sneaking up behind Brooke and scaring her out of her wits. Will was a tall guy with nice features and a "Hero profile", as Cara called it. He was one of the two guys coming on the trip with them. He and Brooke had gotten married about two and a half years before, and neither traveled without the other. He was calm, just like Brooke, and always seemed to be smiling. The other part of their vacation party walked slowly up behind Will. Doran was considerably taller than the rest of the group, but didn't seem so because he was so reserved. He had curly hair that was so black that it almost had accents of blue. He gave a sweet smile to Jamie and she ran to him and threw her arms around him. Unlike Will and Brooke, Dorian and Jamie weren't married, but were engaged to be so in a few months. She had met him when her studies took her all the way to London. Jamie was wonderfully smart…yet had managed to get lost. Dorian had lived there his whole life and managed to never get lost. From then on they fit perfectly together.

In all this "happy ending-ness" Cara had managed to crash all relationships that she had had since junior high. For the longest time, it didn't matter to her if she was single or not, because she had her two best friends. After a while they each found the perfect guy and Cara began to notice how lonely she truly felt. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on the task at hand…surviving vacation! She still contemplated just how they were even able to talk her into going on this trip, but it was too late to turn back now. Next flight to 'shudder' Louisiana.

As they boarded the plane, Cara grew even more discouraged. Their seats were all in coach, but these were the cheapest, most unwelcoming seats that Cara had ever seen. Her back hurt at the mere sight of them, but she would have to make do for a few hours. She sat down by the window and left the other two seats open for Jamie and Dorian. Will and Brooke had found seats right behind them and had already settled in. Jamie plopped down into the seat next to Cara, while Dorian put all of the carry-on bags into the overhead storage. There was a benefit to him being _really_ tall! He then sat quietly next to Jamie. Meanwhile, Jamie was eagerly flipping through the pages of a tourist guide for all the sights in Louisiana. Cara sighed and threw her head back. There were very few things she hated more than being a tourist!

"Look at this!" Jamie said pointing to a Mardi Gras picture from the guide, "Doesn't that look fun? It's like one big par-tay!"

"It's an excuse for people to dress up and drink too much," Cara grumbled.

"That's what you said about Las Vegas," Jamie noted.

"And aren't you glad I talked you out of that?"

"It would have been fun!"

"Yeah….sure," Cara remarked sarcastically.

As Jamie went back to her tourist book, Cara pulled her favorite headphones out of her bag and fell asleep listening to her favorite music.

When she woke up, she had hoped to wake up at home, but found herself still on the plane. She looked over to Jamie to see Jamie fast asleep with her head on Dorian's shoulder. Dorian was captivated by a psychology book that looked way too boring for Cara's taste. She realized that the plane had landed and was parking, so she figured it would be okay to pull her phone out and take a picture of Jamie zonked out on Dorian's arm. Brooke tapped on her shoulder and signaled her to take her headphones off. It was, finally, time to get off the plane.

They decided to save money on the hotel and instead of renting four rooms, they only got two. Cara, Jamie, and Brooke all shared one and the boys shared the other. The hotel wasn't nearly as cheap as the plane, but it wasn't five-star. It had two good sized beds (which would mean Cara would end up on a roll away bed) and a television. The bathroom was small and awkward and there was no closet.

Later that evening, Jamie gathered the group together in the girl's room and suggested that they go out for dinner. She had looked up and found a little jazz club downtown and eventually talked everyone into going. They all got a table and talked about what they were going to do the next day, to start their vacation. Cara's focus, however was on the other side of the building. One side was a little café, but on the other side there was a type of bar and a few poker tables. That alone normally repulsed Cara, but she noticed something rather interesting. She noticed the man dealing at one of the poker tables. He wore a purple shirt with a black vest and wore a hat…inside. The rim of the hat shadowed the top half of his face, so that the only feature of his face that she could see was a cocky grin. The part that caught Cara's attention was that he was carelessly tossing cards in the air and juggling them with one hand and play poker with the other hand. The cards fell perfectly back into a neat stack in his hand. Cara found this trick interesting, but the others at the table seemed to think nothing of it.

"Cara?" Brooke said, breaking Cara out of her thoughts, "What'cha lookin' at?"

"Nothing," Cara said focusing back at the table. She hadn't even see the waitress bring their food. Cara may not like vacationing here, but she adored good, Cajun food!

"You okay?" Brooke asked. She realized that Cara would be just fine, considering that she couldn't answer due to her shoveling Jambalaya into her mouth. Brooke rolled her eyes and laughed, before returning to her conversation with Jamie and Will.

After dinner was over, the others were still laughing at talking, but Cara's mind drifted back toward the poker tables. She glanced back over to see that the man she had noticed earlier was still sitting there and doing another trick with the cards in his right hand. Cara was fairly curious about what went on over at those tables. She casually walked over to the bar and pretended not to notice the tables (that one table in particular). By the time that she got over there, the dealer she had seen was gone. She hadn't seen him stand or leave, but she did notice that the other men at the table looked almost relieved as they put their wallets away and sat back. She got lost in thought for a few moments, as she usually did.

"Bonjour," said a deep voice that broke Cara out of her thoughts. She turned her head to see the dealer from the poker table that she had been watching was now seated on the stool next to hers. He was looking right at her with that same cocky grin. The rim of his hat still shaded his eyes, but since he was noticeably closer, she could see that he had almost shoulder-length dark, auburn hair and a five o'clock shadow that signified that he had been there for quite a while now. He still looked at her, as if he expected her to say something, when Cara realized that she was just staring at him. He was a fairly attractive guy, but she had never meant to stare. At the same time, she had no idea what to say. He seemed to notice her loss for words, so he went ahead and talked to fill the awkward silence.

"Buy you somethin' ta drink, Cheri?" he said casually, in a deep, smooth Cajun accent. He flashed a smile and leaned back against the bar.

"Um…no thanks," Cara said, slightly annoyed at the typical drink offer.

"Ooh. Harsh. You're not even gonna give me a name before you completely reject me," he almost laughed, "You wound me, Cher."

"You didn't really ask for a name, Cajun," she replied bluntly.

"I assume that if I asked you for a name at this point, you'd completely ignore me," he laughed, "so I'm just gonna make one up for you."

Cara ignored this comment and ordered a water from the bartender. He looked at her strangely when she only ordered that, but she didn't care. The Cajun still sat next to her talking, but she had tuned him out at this point.

"Ouch," he said, almost to himself, when he realized that he had lost all of her attention, "Not even a 'not really interested' speech?"

"Alright. Not really interested," was the response.

"Cara."

"What?"

"I told you I was gonna think up a name for ya. How close was it."

"Not close at all," she scoffed.

At that moment Brooke called over to Cara…by name.

"Cara!" she called.

"Not close at all," the Cajun chuckled. Cara signaled for Brooke to wait.

"Ya know, if that's your ride…I'd take it about now. You don't seem ta wanna be here anyhow, so why have her wait?" he stated. Cara honestly didn't know why she was waiting there. Something drew her over there and she wasn't about to leave until she knew what it was.

"Or…you could stay and give me your name," he continued.

"You already know it."

"Yeah, but it'd sound better comin' from you."

"Cute."

"Why so cruel? You don't even know me."

"You're a guy, at a bar, offering the first girl you see a drink."

"Correction. Ah'm a guy, at a bar, offering the most beautiful woman here a drink, in hopes that she won't completely reject me."

"How's that workin' for ya?" the bartender cut in. Cara laughed quietly.

"He bothering you?" the bartender laughed. He was a young man with dark brown eyes and a half smile. He had jet black hair pulled back loosely and carelessly. He barely looked old enough to be in this part of the club, much less work the bar.

"Beyond belief!" Cara laughed.

"Ouch…" the man muttered to himself muttered to himself.

"Look. I'm sorry, but I am not some bleach blonde bunny that'll fall for your cheap pick-up lines," Cara explained, "Goodbye."

She walked back to her group and they left the café. The Cajun stood there, partially shocked and partially hurt.

"Blatant rejection!" laughed the young man behind the counter.

"Oh, shut up!" the Cajun growled.

Once back at the hotel, the girls went straight back to their room. Jamie and Brooke both looked at Cara simultaneously.

"Alright, hon," Brooke started, "Who was he?"

"Who?" Cara said, trying to brush it off.

"The southern sweet-talker at the bar," Jamie said flatly.

"He was just some loser," Cara said.

"He sure didn't look like a loser!" Jamie laughed.

"Just let it go. Are we sight seeing tomorrow?" Cara said, switching the topic.

"Yeah," Brooke answered, "Just some los-"

"Drop it!" Cara cut her off

She then preceded to drop face first on her hotel bed. Jamie and Brook just laughed and went on to get ready for tomorrow.

The next day, the group walked around the area of New Orleans nearest to their hotel. There were shops, cafés, and boutiques everywhere. While they walked by all of the beautifully decorated store windows, Cara noticed something breathtaking. Inside the window of a local jewelry store. There were beautiful necklaces and bracelets. She walked inside the store, looking back at Brook as if to tell her she'd be right back. Inside the store there were many displays, but the most beautiful one was in the middle of the store. It had a necklace with diamonds, but in the center was the largest, most breathtaking diamond that Cara had ever seen. She didn't mean to stare at it, but it was so pretty! The suspicious store clerk looked at her oddly, so she moved on to look at other things.

A few minutes later, she walked back out to join the others. She then saw something odd….police cars! A lot of police cars! "Woah! Look!" Jamie said, noticing the commotion.

A crowd of people rushed that way in a panic. In the large crowd, Jamie held onto Dorian and Will held Brook's arm, but Cara got separated. She was lost in the crowd, and she could no longer even see the others. Suddenly, in her panicked attempt to get out of the crowd, Cara felt a strong hand grip her arm. She was going to protest, but the hand pulled her toward the edge of the crowd.

"Hey, Cara," said a voice, matching that of the Cajun that she had spoken to yesterday. She whipped around to see a familiar grin. This time his eyes were hidden by sunglasses, rather than a hat. Cara fumed and attempted to get her arm free, but his grip was too strong.

"What do you want from me!" Cara screamed at him.

"Come on, Cher," he said pulling her away from the crowd.

"Listen," he said, before Cara could freak out, "I just saved you back there!"

"Saved me? From what?" Cara yelled.

"Shhh! From the eight squad cars!"

"What do you mean?"

"Those cars are there, because someone robbed that jewelry place back there! They think it was you!"

"What? Why?"

"Reach into your pocket."

Cara reached, annoyed, into her pocket. She slowly pulled out an odd object. It was, to her absolute horror, the diamond necklace from the display! She held it out, frozen in shock. The Cajun just calmly took the jewel from her frozen hand.

"Wha-What? I never took anything!"

"I know you didn't. That's why I pulled you out. Thanks for carrying this for me."

"YOU?"

"Yeah."

"You might not wanna go back there, darlin'. Everyone's pretty convinced you stole it. I owe you one, so I'll help you out."

"NO! You've done enough!" Cara practically screamed.

"Come on," the Cajun said, taking her arm and pulling her along.

He walked her to a nearby parking lot and took a look around. He then walked her up to an old Camaro.

"Is this your car?" she asked flatly.

"Nope," he said, breaking open the driver door. He walked her to the passenger door and motioned for her to get in.

"NO!" she protested.

"Umm…this or jail," he laughed, hearing approaching sirens.

Cara panicked and got into the car. Remy then got in the driver's seat. He took out a small metal device and jammed it into the ignition. The car turned on and he drove it as fast as it could go out of the parking lot. Cara sat in her seat, holding on for dear life. They sped down the road much faster than Cara had ever driven or would ever drive. She looked at the speedometer and instantly regretted the decision!

"Oh, gosh. I'm going to die," she said almost calmly.

"You're not gonna die!" the Cajun laughed.

Cara looked behind them to see four of the eight squad cars chasing them. She tried to get the driver's attention, but he ignored her and turned on the radio.

"You know, when I envisioned dying, I didn't think it would be speeding down the highway, running from cops, blaring country music!" Cara screamed over the radio.

"You yell too much, Gorgeous," was the only reply. After the squad cars had slowed slightly, the Cajun pulled their getaway car into an ally and got out. Cara slowly followed suit. He walked her to another parking lot and, this time, walked up to a bright red Corvette. He carefully worked the door open and got it. Cara, seeing no other option, got in the other side.

"This is subtle," Cara remarked sarcastically.

"Not lookin' fer subtle. Lookin' for fast!"

A few ridiculous driving stunts and car chases later, the new getaway car came to a halt in the almost empty parking lot of a motel. Cara got out of the car and walked around. The Cajun got out and was about to speak, but, instead, got smacked fairly hard in the face.

"ARE YOU INSANE?" Cara screamed in frustration.

"Well…yeah," he answered matter-of-factly.

"What the heck is wrong with you?"

"I thought we covered that under 'insane'."

"Oh, you are going to fix this!"

"Come on!" he said, pulling her toward the motel.

"I'm going to die!" Cara screamed again.

"You are not gonna die!" the Cajun yelled back, "I swear I will not hurt you! Now shut up! You scream _way _too much!"

Cara calmed down and followed him into the motel. The Cajun just looked at the man at the registration counter and the man tossed him a key. Cara didn't want to or bother to ask.

They walked into a decent size motel room and the Cajun took a messenger bag off of his shoulder and tossed it on one of two beds.

"This'll work fer now," he said, looking around.

Cara took in the last few hours of her life and thought hard on what happened. She then returned to her screaming rant. This didn't turn out well for her, because, five minutes later, she was sitting on one of the beds with her hands duct-taped behind her and a piece of the tape on her mouth. She muttered angrily under the tape.

"What do ya wanna watch?" asked the Cajun, sitting down next to her.

Cara simply screamed inaudibly through the tape.

"Okay then," the Cajun sighed. He took a remote and turned on Nickelodeon on the hotel room television. He then set the remote down next to Cara.

"I gotta go, but I'll be back soon. Don't wander off." he walked out, leaving the door locked behind him. Cara used all the sanity that she had left and tried to calm down. She was able to relax slightly and occasionally glance at the TV.

A few hours passed and nothing happened. The sun had gone down outside and Cara worried about her friends. What if they were looking for her or worried about her? She wanted to tell them, in some way, that she was alright, but she didn't even believe it. The door clicked and slowly opened. The young Cajun walked back in and sat down on the other bed. He had with him a leather satchel of some kind, but Cara figured that the less she knew, the better.

"How are you feeling?" he asked calmly. A muffled growl was the response.

He reached behind Cara, and with a tap the tape came completely apart. She then tore the piece of tape off of her mouth with a quiet "Ow!".

"You okay?" he asked innocently.

Cara replied by smiling sweetly and kicking him as hard as she could. He flew backwards off the edge of the bed.

"AM I OKAY?" she screamed with rage, "YOU TIED ME UP AND LEFT!"

"I'm startin' to think the problem was untying you!" the Cajun laughed, rubbing the sore spot on his chest where he had been kicked. He stood from the floor and sat on the other bed, being sure to keep a good distance.

"No, really. Are you alraght?" he asked, in his smooth southern accent.

"I'm fine!" Cara said, pouting and turning away. She crossed her arms defiantly.

The Cajun stood and sat back down on the edge of Cara's bed. He gently pulled a remaining piece of tape from the side of her face. She turned away further and ignored him. He sat directly behind her and wrapped his arm around the front of her shoulders. It wrapped all the way around her. He rested his chin on her shoulder while he continued to ignore him (and also tried to avoid the fact that he smelled **really** good).

"Ma name's Remy by the way," he said sweetly.

"You already know my name," Cara growled quietly.

"Well, you wouldn't give it to me, so ah guessed."

"Why do you wear hats or sunglasses?" Cara noticed, "Do you get headaches or something? At night and inside…it's weird."

"Umm…well…"

"Well, what?"

"Ah just don't like ma eye color," he sighed.

"That's not all, is it?" Cara asked.

"No, but that's all you wanna know," he said, lifting his head off her shoulder.

Cara took his other arm, that wasn't wrapped around her, and wrapped it around the front of her waist. She leaned back into him and took a deep breath.

"What don't I want to know?" she asked, "Tell me."

He didn't speak. He set his chin back on her shoulder and nuzzled her neck lightly.

"Remy?" Cara asked, interlacing her fingers with the hand he had around her waist. He thought for a few minutes.

"You really wanna know?" he asked grimly.

"Yeah," Cara sighed, leaning back further.

"Promise me you aren't gonna freak?"

"Yeah. It can't be that bad."

He pulled of his sunglasses, and handed them to her. He was behind her, so she still couldn't see. She pulled away from him and turned around. She assumed that since he didn't like his eyes, they were probably a weird yellowish green or something. The room was not very well lit, so she didn't expect to be able to see his eye color at all. She turned and looked into his eyes. To her amazement, the eyes that looked back at her were solid black with glowing red irises. She gasped, but immediately regretted it, because he let go of her and looked straight down.

"Yeah," he sighed, "Ah know."

"They're…" Cara started.

"Creepy, demonic, evil, gross?" Remy cut in, "Heard it all before."

"Beautiful," Cara gasped in an amazed way.

"Wh-What?" Remy asked, surprised.

"They're beautiful!" she smiled.

She ran her hand lightly across his jaw, tilting his head back up. His red eyes looked up at her. She had expected to see cockiness or pride in his face, as she saw before. However, with his eyes uncovered, she looked deep into them and saw pain and even…fear.

"What happened to you, Remy?" Cara sighed.

"We should leave," he said, changing the subject, "First thing in the mornin."

"Remy?" Cara asked quietly, worried about him.

"Ah might get punched fer this, but…"

He leaned in and gave her a long gentle kiss.

"Goodnight," he said, "Get some sleep."

He pulled away to go over to the other bed, but Cara was still holding onto his hand. He pulled gently, but she wouldn't let go. He picked her up off the bed with one arm and pulled the blanket of the bed back with the other arm. He laid her down and pulled the blanket over her. He kissed her forehead and pulled his hand out of hers. She quickly faded off onto a deep sleep.

The other hotel was a less peaceful scene. Will paced back and fourth across the floor and Brooke almost got dizzy sitting and watching him. Jamie was panicking and Dorian was gently holding her in his arms to calm her down.

"This is all my fault!" Jamie sobbed into Dorian's arm (she didn't quite reach his shoulder) He just gently stroked her hair and kissed her head.

"It's not the end of the world. She probably just got caught up in the crowd and wandered off. Cara can find her way back. I'll bet she'll be back any minute," Brooke encouraged.

"None of this would have happened if I would have just kept better track of everyone!" Will insisted, "It was my job to keep everyone together and safe and I _wonderful_ job I'm doing at that! Day two and we're missing someone."

Dorian opened his mouth to speak but was quieted by Jamie's overdramatic, hysteric sobbing (that the others were beginning to either find funny or annoying).

"Dorian and I looked for her for hours!" Will continued, "At this time of year, it's barely safe for _us_ to even be out there! If any harm comes to that girl…"

"Will, hon," Brooke comforted, "I'm sure she'll be alright. You did what you could and that's all you can do right now. We'll just have to wait until morning and then keep looking."

The bright rays of sunlight that pierced the motel window reached Cara's eyes and she slowly woke up. Blinking the light away, she sat up and looked around. She had expected this all to be a dream and that she would wake up back home, but it was the same little motel that she was hiding in. She turned to look over at the other bed, but it was empty and looked completely untouched from when they arrived. She looked around nervously, beginning to think that she had been left there. The only thing that comforted her was when she heard the quiet sound of a shower from the other side of the bathroom door. Cara got up and walked over to the window. The white blinds on the window were broken and hanging off to one side of the window by a thin line. Cara pushed it farther off to the side and opened the window. A gentle breeze rolled through the window into the musty motel room. Cara enjoyed the literal change of atmosphere.

"Beautiful day to be running from the police for something you didn't do," Cara sighed, "Well…as beautiful a day for that as any."

She sat up on the dresser, that was under the window, and leaned against the window. She stared out the window and enjoyed the fresh breeze for a while, until she heard the soft hum of the shower stop. She thought about moving or curling back up into the bed, but she elected to stay where she was. Remy walked out of the bathroom with the same old boots, pants, and shirt from the day before. The only difference was that the five o'clock shadow that he had was gone, his hair was wet and messed up (but he looked too tired to care), and his dark purple shirt hung open. Cara didn't even bother looking over to him before laughing at his messed up appearance.

"Remy, shirts have buttons for a reason," Cara sighed jokingly.

"Right," he laughed, fastening two buttons on his shirt.

He walked up and leaned on the wall beside the window that Cara was staring out. He reached over and tilted her chin, so that she would be facing him.

"I never got a reaction for that kiss," he grinned.

"So, I take it you want that punch now, then?" Cara asked innocently.

Remy moved his hand away awkwardly.

"On second thought, we should focus on somethin' else fer a while."

"No. If that punch is so important to you, I think that you definitely deserve it. May as well get it over with, right?" Cara threatened.

"You know what? Ah'm gonna get punched anyway! You have this comin'," Remy laughed as he pulled Cara off of the dresser and down into his arms. He gave her another long, not-so-gentle kiss. She quickly pushed him off and gave him a hard slap to the face.

"You're such a pig!" she yelled, while he held the side of his face.

She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into another, equally long kiss. She then proceeded to shove him off again and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"I do not understand this woman," he muttered to himself.

They got their stuff together and were on the road about twenty minutes later. Remy, of course, drove the Corvette, while Cara sat angrily in the passenger's seat.

"I get the feelin' yer mad," he laughed, looking over at her.

"I'm not upset. I'm tense," she corrected.

"Umm…there's a difference?" he asked.

"Yes, there is a big difference."

"I'm sorry," he sighed, after a long moment of silence.

"For what?" Cara snapped.

"I drug you into this and me bein' a pig ain't helpin' things."

"No, it's my fault. I could have handled things better," Cara sighed.

"I think you handled it pretty well. You don't have ta feel bad fer hittin me."

"No, that's not what I meant. When I said "could have handled things better", I meant that I should have probably hit you a lot harder," Cara laughed.

Remy broke out laughing and nodded.

"That might'a been better, actually."

They drove for, to Cara, what felt like days. Cara had a hard time keeping track of where they were, because she kept falling asleep. It was growing dark outside and Cara still worried for her friends. It had been two days. Were they looking for her? Did they even notice that she was gone? Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that the car had stopped. She looked around to see that they were in the parking lot of a little diner.

"You hungry, Cher?" Remy asked, looking over at a very tired Cara.

Cara just nodded. Remy got out and walked around to Cara's door and opened it carefully, half afraid that she would fall asleep and tumble out. She got out of the car and Remy wrapped his arm around her. She had half a mind to smack his arm off, but decided that she was too tired.

They got a booth at the little diner and Cara just sat there sipping at a milkshake that she had decided she wanted. Cara let out a loud groan as she saw the waitress coming back that direction.

"What is it?" Remy asked, after finishing his third plate of food.

"She's coming back," Cara growled.

"What's wrong with her?" Remy asked.

"This will undoubtedly be her third or fourth attempt to flirt with you," Cara stated venomously.

"Is that jealousy I hear, Cara?" Remy smirked, making sure he used her name.

"What? No!" Cara defended. Remy raised an eyebrow and looked at her. The waitress walked up to the table and smiled.

"Is there anything I can get for you?" she asked Remy (ignoring Cara), batting her eyes and flipping her hair a little. Cara rolled her eyes and stood up. She quietly stormed off to the restaurant bathroom, for no real reason but to leave the table. When she walked back a few minutes later, the waitress was still standing at the table, flirting. Remy didn't care either way. He just sat there and talked normally. Cara smiled and put on her best super model face and walk. She walked up to Remy's side of the table.

"Hey, hon," she smiled at Remy, "I'll pay while you get the car."

"Okay…" Remy said hesitantly, handing over money for dinner.

"Thank you, Baby," Cara said sweetly.

She tilted Remy's chin up and gave him a slow kiss.

"The service here's terrible anyway," she smiled, walking away, but looking over her shoulder to smile at the insulted, bleach blonde, high heeled waitress. Remy then shrugged and followed.

"You know, you didn't really eat anything," Remy remarked, on the way to the car. "Don't worry, Cajun," Cara laughed, "You ate enough for both of us. Besides, I've had enough of that place!"

The drive continued all night. Remy would drive and Cara would curl up in her seat and sleep. She only woke up when the sunlight hit her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up to see that the miles of open road had turned into a city. Cara didn't recognize what city, but she hadn't been in this state very many times, so she wasn't surprised.

"Mornin', Beautiful," Remy smiled, looking at her.

"Watch the road, Cajun," Cara yawned.

"Why?" Remy asked.

"I cannot believe that you have to ask "why", so I'm just going to shut up now."

It seemed like hours before Cara saw so much as a road sign, after that last town had passed. Even then, the one sign that she saw was so dirty that it couldn't clearly be read.

"Oh, where the heck am I?" Cara quietly mumbled to herself.

Remy looked over to her with a concerned look. She was huddled in her seat, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on one.

"You okay?" he asked gently.

"Umm…no," she said, not bothering to look at him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, using his free hand to tuck hair behind her ear.

"I'm running from the police in a stolen car with a guy I barely know, and I don't even know where I am. My friends don't know where I am."

"Didn't Ah promise you that I'd fix this?"

"No."

"Really? Well…Ah'm promising that now. Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what Ah'm doin'."

"It's remarkable how little I feel encouraged by that!" Cara laughed, sitting up straight and looking over at Remy.

"Funny," Remy smirked, laughing dryly and sarcastically.

The road continued to rush by under the wheels of the sports car. Cara just stared out at the side of the road, attempting to drown out the sounds of the radio with her thoughts. As she watched the side of the dirt road, she noticed something. The dirt transitioned into pavement with a metal guard rail. She looked up to see a city steadily growing closer.

"Civilization!" Cara cried out, not caring if she sounded crazy or not.

Remy just laughed and shook his head. They drove into the nice town for a while before Cara took a good look at a few buildings that looked oddly familiar. "Seriously?" Cara demanded.

"What?" Remy laughed.

"New Orleans? You drove us in a giant circle?" Cara nearly screamed.

"Not really," Remy explained, trying not to laugh, "We were headed somewhere else, but you kept talking about your friends and how worried that they would be by now, so I thought Ah should think of a way for you to see 'em…without police."

"And how is that gonna work?" Cara asked hopefully.

"Um, Ah'm still workin' on that part," Remy laughed nervously.

"So much for 'Ah know exactly what Ah'm doin'!" Cara said, mocking his accent.

"Does it seem to you that this is the first time that I've done somethin' like this?" Remy asked, his voice growing deeper and far more serious, so that his accent almost disappeared, "I've done this stuff hundreds of times. I always have everything planned out. I know what I'm gonna do and what's going to happen because of that. But, this time it's different. I never planned on you coming! It was going to be easy: swipe the jewel and get out before anyone ever knows. It always happens that way. This time, I just followed a crazy scheme and almost blew everything!"

"Why?" Cara asked, "Why didn't you just get out? No cops. No screaming people. No problems. You would have still gotten the jewel."

"The plan changed and…that rock didn't seem important anymore. The price on it didn't matter. As soon as I walked into that store I realized that the necklace could be worth the whole world and I would'a given it up for what became important," Remy went on, eyes fixed down or on the road, "Stealing is mah job. I've never gotten anything that I wanted fairly. I guess I just couldn't think of a better way to get the prize I wanted. Maybe, the reason I have to steal everything is because I flat out don't deserve it. I finally found somethin' that I won't ever be able to steal, so I don't know how else to get it. So, to answer, Ah have no idea what I'm doin'. I'm following mah instinct."

"So, you don't even know what we're doing at this point?" Cara asked flatly.

"I've got a feeling," he laughed dryly, "That's it."

"So, what was the prize that you wanted more than the necklace?" Cara asked.

Remy just grew quiet and looked further away. He pulled his sunglasses from his jacket and put them on to cover the red glow of his eyes. Cara noticed the busy street corner that they were driving on. "Hey, my hotel is right around the corner!" Cara said happily.

"Ah know," Remy stated.

"I can't go back though. The police-"

"Stopped looking for you on day one," Remy cut in.

"Wh-WHAT?" Cara screamed, "So, all the running was for…?"

"We weren't running," Remy sighed.

"But, you sold the necklace," Cara reminded him, "They're looking for-"

"It was returned a few days ago," Remy cut in again, "I never sold it."

"Why not? It's kinda your _job_!" Cara asked, more confused than ever.

"I'm taking you back to the hotel. Go inside and tell your friends that you're alright. And, Cara…It's best if they not know about me."

"Oh…okay," Cara said, quietly.

The car stopped in front of the hotel. Cara got out and grabbed her purse from the back.

"What are you gonna do?" Cara asked.

"Ah got another job."

"What am I going to do?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know or you don't care?" Cara said, upset by his lack of concern.

"Pick one!" he spat back.

He shifted the car into gear and sped off. Cara walked into the hotel, looking over her shoulder once, half hoping he would stop and come back. She walked up to the girl's hotel room and knocked on the door. An exhausted looking Brooke opened the door and gasped.

"Cara!" she yelled as she threw her arms around her friend.

"Hi." Cara said quietly.

Jamie looked toward the door from inside of the room and charged for her long-lost friend.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Jamie demanded, choking Cara and Brooke in a group hug.

Will and Dorian looked over with tremendous relief. The whole night they asked Cara about what had happened, but she shook off the questions and talked very little. She just sat by the window and kept her gaze up at the quiet Louisiana sky.

A window across the city was occupied as well. A pair of red and black eyes looked up at the same sky. The look they showed was that of hurt and confusion that couldn't be identified. He was empathetic by nature. His mind was flooded with pain that wasn't his. He had suppressed this power years ago. What was it about this girl that was strong enough to trigger it? He had to shake it off. Voices and memories flooded his sight.

"You're a real piece of trash, _Gambit_," One voice mocked repeatedly.

The name rang through his mind again and again, like a deafening heartbeat. There was only one way to dull the sharp pain, but it rarely worked. As he grew stronger, his abilities protected everything that was in him. The strength…and the pain. He walked to the kitchen of his small, temporary apartment and pulled out a bottle from the cupboard above the sink. He poured what was in the bottle into a glass and drank it quickly, hoping the burn of the alcohol would drown out everything else. He did his best to not let the energy in his core burn the harmful liquid away, but he could feel the sting disappear and the memories flood back in. There wasn't a fix…not this time. There was easy way out. No way to push the feeling back. He could only think of one thing that would fix this feeling…and fix him, but he couldn't have it.

"Gambit," he muttered to the dark room a few times, "It's better to be stuck here. You've always been better off alone. She's forgotten your face already. Just as she should."

Cara woke up, this time half expecting to be in a car or a motel, but waking up in the hotel room. She sat up and looked at the other beds in the room. Jamie and Brooke were both fast asleep and Cara assumed that the boys were next door also asleep. Cara grabbed her jacket and went out for a walk. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she was determined to find it. She wandered shop fronts for about an hour. The stores were all just now opening. Cara stopped and saw something interesting on a store window. It was a large poster for a mask ball…that night! A faint glimmer of hope hit Cara's heart. She wasn't sure why, but she had to be at this ball! She quickly ran back to the hotel and woke Jamie and Brooke up.

"A masked ball?" Brooke asked, after Cara gave the whole group the idea.

"You have to trust me," Cara pleaded, "I don't know why…but I have to be there!"

"Alright," Will smiled, "It could be fun."

"Yeah," Jamie and Brooke agreed.

"Wait!" Cara exclaimed, while a thought hit her.

The dress! She had brought that purple gown that had been in the back of her closet at home. She _knew_ it would be needed on this trip! As the others went out to find something to wear, Cara took the tags off of the purple dress and hoped for the best. It hadn't fit her right when she bought it, but she was excited to see that it fit beautifully now. She pulled her hair half up and the rest fell down in gold curls. The shoes that she had bought to go with the dress complimented the outfit perfectly. Cara took a last look in the mirror, before she noticed something.

"A mask!" she said, smacking her palm to her face.

"Perhaps, I can help," said a familiar, friendly voice.

She looked up and saw Dorian standing with a warm smile on his face. He held out a bundle of black velvet to Cara. She carefully took it and unwrapped it to reveal, jeweled mask. It was a deep purple that matched the dress perfectly.

"How…Where did you…" she started.

"Here," Dorian said, gently taking the mask and putting it on Cara, "Turn around and look."

She turned and looked in the mirror and felt as though she didn't even recognize the beautiful woman that looked back. But, then again, that was the idea of the mask.

"Thank you, Dorian!" she said, turning back to hug him.

"Do you suppose he'll be there?" Dorian asked. Cara froze.

"How did you know I was looking for someone," Cara asked.

"Call it a lucky guess," he laughed.

"Half of New Orleans will be there! How am I ever going to find him?"

"Do you love him?" Dorian said with a serious tone.

"Yes," Cara sighed.

"Then be there. You will find each other. I promise."

He walked back to join the others and Cara soon followed. All she needed now was for her thief to be there. Doubt rose in her mind that he would even be there, but she figured it was a good bet. After all, he loves a good party.

When they arrived at the ball, Will took Brooks arm and they walked in first. Then Dorian gently put his arm around Jamie and they followed the others. Cara wondered in slowly behind them. The more she thought about it, the more she doubted that Remy would even be there. She held on to what was left of that feeling of hope. That feeling that she couldn't quite put a name on. It was the only thing that kept her from running out the doors of the ballroom. Thankfully there were only hundreds of people here, not the thousands that she had feared. The ballroom was beautifully decorated with fun colors and decorations. Many couples and groups were there in wonderful costumes and extravagant disguises. Out of these hundreds of people, she just needed to find one. She looked for what seemed like hours. How long it really was, she didn't know. Will and Brooke danced, while Jamie and Dorian rotated from the dance floor to the snack table. Dorian wasn't hungry, but he always enjoyed getting more punch for Jamie. He enjoyed anything that made her happy.

Cara continued to wander longer and longer, but after so long she began to lose hope. That feeling that she felt so strongly seemed to be fading away. She wanted nothing more than to stop there and cry. She took one more glance around, but saw no sign of the beautiful red and black eyes that she looked for. Her heart sank. She finally abandoned what hope she had left and was about to look for Jamie or Brooke. She suddenly felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and she was pulled back slightly. She was about to freak out but was interrupted.

"Ya miss me?" whispered a very familiar Cajun voice.

Cara spun around and her eyes met the familiar sight or red and black, behind a subtle, black mask. He wore a shirt that matched the dark purple that Cara wore and a black vest and pants. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Cher?" Remy smiled.

"Yeah?" she asked sweetly.

"Don't slap me this time," he said softly.

He leaned in and gently kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and enjoyed the feeling of knowing that he was there and knowing that he wasn't about to leave.

"Remy," she sighed as she pulled back.

"Yes?" he asked (not very happy that she pulled back).

"You never answered my question."

"What question?"

"What was the prize than was more important to you than the whole world?"

Remy leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear.

"You."

Part 2:

The vacation lasted quite a bit longer than they had originally planned. Cara was able to call off work for a few more days, so that she could stay. Unfortunately, Will was needed at work. Dorian also had to return to work, but wasn't planning on going. He would never willingly leave Jamie in a semi-strange town, even if she did have Cara and Brooke with her. They all stayed at the same little hotel in the same two rooms, but the girls left most of the luggage in Dorian's room, because he had a two person room with only one person and they had a two person room with three people.

After the party, Dorian and Will had taken Brooke and Jamie back to the hotel (with Dorian having to carry a sleeping Jamie), after convincing them that Cara would be fine. Remy drove Cara back after the midnight fireworks that evening and Cara was immediately bombarded with questions from Brooke and Will. She avoided all of the questions and went straight on to bed with a smile stuck on her face.

Now that Will had gone (hesitantly) and left the girls with Dorian, they had spend a great deal of time shopping. It wasn't that Will hated shopping, but he saw no benefit in it. Dorian was perfectly happy taking the girls wherever it was that they wanted to go. Cara was a very conservative shopper, so she often didn't buy anything at small expensive shops (no matter how much she wanted things). Jamie generally took full advantage of the fact that her fiancé was from a wealthy family and that he _loved_ to buy her things. Brooke, as usual, remained a happy neutral between the two.

After lunch on one of their Louisiana shopping trips, Jamie suggested they go to an outdoor mall that she'd looked up. This was basically a large group of little, indoor shops, connected by walkways and cafes that operated mostly outside. Dorian, being as laid back as he was, had no objection.

"We don't really need to do any more shopping, Jamie," Brooke noted.

"We've been sight seeing, to a ball, and to a Mardi Gras Parade. What else is there to do but to go and buy really cute stuff?" Jamie asked, bubbly personality clearly showing.

"We could go to the pool at the hotel," Cara suggested.

"But we can do that anywhere," Jamie noted.

"And we can shop anywhere," Brooke retaliated.

"But these shops have one of a kind clothing and specialty stuff that's actually made at the mall!" Jamie pleaded.

"It can't hurt to look around a little bit more," Cara sighed, knowing that Dorian would side with Jamie, so it would have been a tied vote anyway.

The outdoor mall was nice, because, for Louisiana, it was a very nice day. This way they got to shop at a mall and still spend some of their time outside. Jamie ran from shop to shop finding whatever that caught her interest. Brooke and Dorian followed after her, but at a normal pace. Cara wandered a little way behind them. She looked around at all the beautiful dresses and clothes on display, but it just further reminded her that she couldn't afford any of it. She didn't like to spend that much money on something like clothes. Her plan to catch up with Jamie failed when she felt something grab onto her hand. She was spun around and, before she could react, pulled into a deep kiss.

"Hey, gorgeous," Remy said calmly, letting go of Cara.

"You never called," Cara said sadly.

"What?"

"I gave you my phone number when you took me back to the hotel after the ball. That was four days ago and you didn't even call. I was starting to wonder if you'd even bother to call, or just disappear and I'd never see you aga-" Cara started.

She was abruptly cut off by another kiss. Remy just held her close to him and smiled. He had that mischievous look on his face that Cara nearly feared. He was up to something.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"Ah missed you," he explained, "I couldn't call, because ah had to work. I was hoping I'd find ya nearby, so ah've been lookin' everywhere."

"Haven't found anything here that interests you?" Remy guessed, noting that Cara didn't have the huge number of shopping bags that Jamie did.

"I don't have a lot of money to blow shopping," Cara sighed.

"Good," Remy smiled, "Cause ah do. Jus tell me what ya like, Cher."

"Remy, I don't need anyone buying me stuff."

"Was there a question in my previous statement?"

"Well…no."

"Yeah, ah thought so," he smirked, "Besides, you're not wearin a t-shirt and jeans on your date tonight. It doesn't work that way. So, come on and tell me what you want."

"Wait! What date?" Cara demanded.

"The one I'm taking you on tonight," Remy stated plainly.

"Do I have any say in this?"

"Do you really have ta ask, darlin'?"

"Fine…" she huffed as she followed him into a nearby store.

They walked and shopped in store after store, but Cara could always seem to find an excuse not to buy everything. One thing after another would be shown to her, but she found fault in every item held up.

"Come on!" Remy protested after what seemed like the hundredth rejection.

"I am not wearing that!" Cara scoffed.

"What's wrong with this one?" he growled.

"Where's the rest of it, Cajun?"

"Point taken. So, what's wrong with it?"

"Remy, if you wanna wear a shirt as a dress and six inch heels, feel free. But I am _not wearing that_! No!"

"Fine," he sighed, throwing his arms up in defeat.

More dresses were rejected, one after the other, for about two hours.

"This is ridiculous!" Remy protested.

"I told you that before we started!"

"You have to try _something_!" Remy said. Before the two were "Shhh"ed by a store clerk, to whom Remy just rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I will try on the next dress you pick out!" Cara agreed.

Remy just grinned widely and she could tell that he had just gotten an idea.

"Promise?" he asked slyly.

"I greatly regret saying that," Cara whimpered.

"This is **ridiculous**!" Cara whined from inside of the dressing room.

"Am I going to get to see it?" Remy asked flatly.

"No one is ever going to see this!" Cara declared plainly.

"Babe, come on! We've been in one store for two and a half hours!"

"NO!"

"Cara," Remy purred, "Please."

"I hate you!" Cara yelled, before she opened the dressing room door.

She walked out in what felt to her like the top half of a dress and black stiletto heels. Remy just let out a low whistle. Cara had half a mind to smack him and the other half to impale him with one of the dumb shoes she was wearing.

"I feel so stupid!" she whined.

"Umm…**dang**!" was the only reply that came out.

"Oh. Man! I do look dumb!" she fussed.

"Wow. You look…" "Dumb? Horrible? Stupid? Like a clown?"

"I was gonna go with really hot, but that works too." Remy finished.

"You're insane…" Cara stated plainly.

"I see it as good taste, not insanity."

Remy stopped a group of random shoppers and asked there opinion, which horrified Cara to no end. After every guy in the group agreed and all the women staying quiet, Remy just smirked and Cara.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" he teased.

"I can't believe you!" Cara all but screamed.

She ran back into the changing rooms in a mad rage. Remy just shrugged casually.

After a half an hour of trying to talk Cara into coming back out of the changing room, they walked over to a new store. Evidently, Jamie and Brooke were also shopping in this store. Dorian had walked across to another store to buy something for Jamie that he actually picked out.

"Remy!" Cara whined as he gently led her, by the arm, to the dresses.

"Alright," he said, "Why don't you go and find something that _you_ like."

Cara looked through the dresses for a moment before pulling one off the rack. Seeing how Remy openly cringed, she then put it back.

"What about this one?" he said handing her a purple cocktail dress.

"I guess I could try it," Cara said hesitantly.

This time she walked out of the dressing room with a purple dress, that still wasn't as long as she liked but wasn't too bad, and a pair of black, four inch wedge heels.

"Wow. You look…" Remy started.

"Cajun, If you say 'sexy' this heel's going-"

"Beautiful." he finished.

"Oh, well…thank you."

There was an awkward silence for a minute before it was ruined by an all too familiar voice.

"Cara?" Jamie's voice rang through the store.

Cara froze in horror for many reasons. For one, she was standing there in that ridiculous dress and heels, and, two, Remy was standing right next to her and Jamie didn't even know who he was. Remy just looked over at Jamie.

"Friend of yours?" he asked Cara.

"Maybe not after this," Cara gulped.

"What do ya mean?"

"Yeah, they asked about you and I may or may not have…umm…lied."

Jamie grabbed Brooke away from what she was looking at and pulled her over to where Cara was standing.

"That dress is gorgeous!" Jamie said, as she walked up.

"Thank you!" Remy added in, thankful that someone agreed with him.

"Umm…who is this?" Brooke pointed out.

"I have no idea…" Cara lied, trying to contain an obnoxious amount of laughter.

"Well then," Remy added awkwardly, looking at Cara, "Hi, Ah'm Remy."

"Okay," Cara sighed, "Jamie and Brooke, this is Remy. Remy, this is Jamie and Brooke. Now that we're all set here, we're just gonna go."

Cara grabbed Remy's arm and pulled him back toward the dressing rooms.

"Why?" he asked flatly.

"How am I supposed to answer that if _I_ barely know who you are?"

"Well, it's obvious," Remy smiled, "Ah'm your hot, Cajun boyfriend."

"You kidnapped me."

"Are we still gonna hold onto that one? That was a long time ago."

"That was six days ago."

There was no reply to that one. They stood there awkwardly before Cara decided that it would be a good idea to go and change. When she got back, Remy was standing there with about seven other clothing items that Cara wouldn't be caught dead wearing.

"Umm…I would say something, but it doesn't seem to sink in." Cara noted.

"I try not to listen. It's very distracting," Remy laughed.

"You know what? Why not?" Cara said, grabbing the clothes from Remy's arm and walking back to the changing room. She just tossed the dress over the door to Remy, who just stood there confused.

Meanwhile, Brooke and Jamie were inching their way closer to see what was going on without Cara freaking out. They were very subtle about their approach, but Remy just looked straight at the two of them. He raised an eyebrow and Jamie couldn't help but to ask.

"Who are you and how do you know her?" Jamie asked plainly.

"Mah name's Remy and Ah'm her boyfriend," Remy replied casually.

"Wai-WHAT?" Jamie all but squealed.

"Yeah, she umm…got lost little while ago and ah was the one that found her. We traveled around fer a while and I met up with her at the ball four days ago."

"So she actually has a…boyfriend?"

"No, I just completely lied to you," Remy said with a flat sarcasm.

Cara walked out and noticed the silence. She had an arm full of clothes, and she used her free arm to pull Remy to the register that she then ran to.

"I think it's time to try a different store," she suggested.

The next hour or so flew by with Cara dragging Remy around the mall, and Jamie and Brooke jogging to keep up with them. By the time the sky began to grow dark, Cara had bags and bags of new stuff that Remy insisted on buying her, and Jamie and Brooke were mildly out of breath. Dorian met up with them and they explained how they had been following Cara around. Cara walked back up to them, alone, carrying her bags of new clothes.

"So, what's next?" she asked casually.

"What was that all about?" Brooke demanded.

"What was what all about?" Cara asked innocently, brushing the topic off.

"You know what I mean, Cara!"

"Umm…no, I don't," Cara smiled, "So, back to the hotel then?"

They did, in face, head back to the hotel and the girls had never been so happy to set down all the shopping bags. They had carried a lot of bags that were mostly Jamie's, so they were very full. Cara instantly her bags of clothes and disappeared into the hotle bathroom.

"She is being _really_ weird!" Jamie stated, pointing out the very obvious.

Brooke walked up to the bathroom door and knocked a few times.

"Hon, you okay?" she said through the door.

"Yup! Just fine!" Cara said hastily.

"Good because Jamie and I are convinced that you're going…oh, I don't know…CRAZY!" Brooke yelled.

"I am not crazy! I promise!" Cara reassured through the door.

"Then, what's goin on with you?"

"Umm…I'll tell you!" Cara started, "Just as soon as I…figure it out."

There was a long pause and a remarkably awkward silence to match it. For a few minutes, Brooke just stared at the bathroom door, severely irritated with her friend's behavior. Jamie had left the room to go over to Dorian's room and talk to him. When she did, Dorian rarely ever spoke, but he enjoyed listening to her talk. Brooke just continued waiting by the bathroom…and waiting and waiting. Suddenly, the door flew open and Cara ran out. She was wearing the same short, purple dress from the store with patterned tights and black, wedge heels. Her hair was up in a beautiful bun and she had managed to pull off dark, purple make-up to match the dress.

"What are you wearing?" Brooke asked, surprised by her non-girly friends appearance…in a dress.

"I don't really have time to explain that. I have to go," Cara rushed.

She walked toward the door, but Brooke jumped in her way and blocked it.

"I don't think so!" Brooke protested.

"I promise, I'll give you the answers later!" Cara pleaded.

"No! You start talking…now!" Brooke insisted.

Cara anxiously looked at the door and rocked back and fourth on her heels.

"Can we not do this right now?" Cara asked nervously.

"This conversation is happening now! If I wait, you'll avoid any questions. Like you have the past four days!" Brooke predicted.

Cara waited a moment and then ran toward the door. Brooke still blocked her though. They stared at each other for a moment before there was a short knock on the door. Brooke opened the door, expecting it to be Jamie, and found the same tall Cajun from the outdoor mall. He just stood there with a smirk on his face and a hat covering his eyes. He wore black pants and a black jacket over a dark purple dress shirt. He had his hand in one of the pockets of his jacket and the other arm braced on the door frame that he was leaning on.

"Can Cara come out and play?" he purred, slyly.

"You're the same guy from the mall!" Brooke noted. He just stayed quiet.

"Who are you anyway?"

"Her date," He stated.

"Yeah, but really. Who the heck are you?" Brooke inquired.

"You don't know?" the Cajun smiled.

"Umm…no."

"Good. Let's keep in that way."

He pushed to door open further and Cara was standing there smiling like an idiot. Brooke attempted to block her exit, but Cara dodged her and ran out the door, closing it behind her. Cara then ran down the hall laughing before Brooke could follow after her. Remy just shrugged and followed her.

When they got to the outside of the hotel, Cara finally slowed down and then stopped. Remy took a good look at her and let out a low wolf whistle. Cara just rolled her eyes.

"Are we going or what?" Cara asked, slightly irritated.

Remy just smiled and gestured to a car that was sitting in front of the hotel. Rather than the Ferrari that he had been driving, the Car he gestured to was a night black Lamborghini. Cara's jaw dropped open. Remy just smiled and opened the passenger side door for her.

"What happened to the Ferrari?" she asked.

"You can only drive a stolen car for so long, Cher," Remy explained.

Cara wasn't about to complain. She got into the car and Remy closed her door, walked around and did the same.

"So…do I wanna know where you got a car that's worth more than the hotel I'm staying in?" Cara asked slowly.

"Won her in a game." Remy said casually, "Why?"

"This is a Lamborghini!" Cara exclaimed, half in disbelief.

"Eh, she's alright ah guess," Remy sighed.

"This is going to be an interesting date," Cara thought to herself.

The car sped off and glided over the streets of New Orleans. Remy was pretty focused on driving, but Cara caught him occasionally looking over at her.

When the car stopped, Cara looked around but didn't recognize where they were. Her door was opened for her by the same grinning Cajun that had opened it for her the first time. He took her hand as she got out. They walked into a good sized restaurant. It seemed to be one of those only-people-who-have-reservations-from-last-year-get-in type places. There was a line that ran clear into the parking lot, for people who already had reservations! Remy just walked her right in past it. He nodded to the host and the host said something in French that sounded friendly enough. They were immediately shown to a quiet table for two people.

"How did you even get us in to this place?" Cara asked, barely over a hoarse whisper, "It's kind of packed out beyond belief!"

"Relax, Cher," Remy smiled, "I've got friends."

When the waiter showed up, Remy ordered something in French, but from her three days of French in college she couldn't tell what he said. The waiter walked away with a bow.

"You know, this doesn't really seem like your kind if place," Cara noticed.

"It's really not, but you don't take pretty girls to mah kinda place…" Remy admitted quietly.

"Well, what kinds of places do you like?" Cara asked, starting conversation.

Nervous laughter followed by an awkward silence.

"Okay, moving on," Cara said awkwardly, "Why here though?"

"I guess I thought maybe the nicest places would impress you," Remy sighed.

"You wanna know the real way to get my attention?"

"Umm…yeah. That would be helpful!"

"Be yourself, Remy. I know you're not a cheapskate, but you're bored to death here. If you really want a date to work…both of us should have a good time."

Cara reached across the table, took Remy's hand, and smiled.

"_Now_ you tell me that!" he laughed.

He waited for just a minute and glanced around.

"You wanna get outta here?" he asked.

"What'd you have in mind?" Cara replied.

"Trust me," he said.

He dropped money on the table for their food that never came and then led Cara back to the car. In seconds, they were off down the road.

The next place that they pulled up looked much different. It looked like it had been a nice restaurant in its former life. The outside was very run down and unimpressive. Cara just took a deep breath and hoped that it was better on the inside. Remy walked up to the door and held it open for Cara, who forced a smile and…less than enthusiastically walked in. As soon as she stepped in, loud music blared and lights flashed. When she adjusted to her new "surroundings" there, she looked around and saw what looked like a cross between a club and a run down bar. She smiled at Remy and then laughed nervously to herself. No one in the club looked like they were over thirty and, to her relief, she didn't see any actual bar-like drinks sold there. There were pool tables and small tables to eat at. There was also a clear area with an old fashioned jukebox that still blared music like it was new.

"Hey, LeBeau!" someone called from over at the counter.

Remy walked over toward the bar-like counter and Cara followed close behind him. The young man at the counter started talking to Remy and Cara just stood there…awkwardly.

"So, who's your friend?" said the younger guy, hinting that Remy should remember that she was there.

"Sorry," Remy said, noticing that Cara was all but hiding behind him, "Lance, this is Cara. Cara, Lance."

"Lance Alvers. Nice to meet you," Lance said over the music, offering his hand to Cara. She shook it and remained quiet.

"Cara's mah date," Remy said proudly. Cara smiled (genuinely this time).

"You got a date with this girl?" Lance asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Remy replied.

"But…she's gorgeous. Why would she ever go out with you?" Lance joked.

He got a laugh from Cara and a cold flat-line expression from Remy.

"I am capable of getting a date with a beautiful girl!" Remy defended.

"So how much does she charge per hour to hang out with you?" Lance continued.

Remy just rolled his eyes and smacked Lance, who was laughing at the time, upside the head. He then turned back to Cara.

"He's a real nice guy…when he's not being a loser," Remy sighed.

"He's only kidding," Cara said sweetly, "Give him a break."

"You hungry, Cher?" Remy asked, as they walked to one of the tables.

"Umm…sure." Cara replied, sitting down.

Remy put his jacket on the back of his chair and walked back to the counter.

"So," Lance commented when Remy came to the counter, "You really like this girl, huh?"

"She's okay," Remy replied casually.

"Dude, you're so obvious! You got it bad!" Lance stated.

"I don't know what it is about her. I just can't stop thinin' about her." Remy sighed. He looked over at Cara and took a deep breath.

"What does she think of you?" Lance questioned.

"Ah may or may not have kidnapped her for sake of running from cops, so ah think If she was gonna leave…she'd have done it by now."

"Guess she likes you too. How much does she know about you?"

"Not much," Remy admitted.

"That explains it," Lance said casually.

"Yer a punk!"

Lance just laughed and went around serving sodas behind the bar.

"So, you got a job at a bar serving….soda?" Remy laughed.

"Hey, a lot of dumb kids come through here. I'm not serving them anything else!" Lance explained. Lance looked around at the large number of odd looking club goers.

"Cajun, you do realize that she's the only…"normal" person here right?" Lance sighed, focusing his attention back to Remy.

"Yeah, ah figured that would be the case," Remy replied.

"I'm gonna guess dinner is two of the usual," Lance inquired.

"Yeah, sure."

A moment later, Lance placed to meals on the counter, as well as two drinks. Remy placed a random wad of cash that was probably was too much for the meal, grabbed the food, and walked back to the table. However, the table could barely be seen past the crowd of young and rather stubborn guys that were swarming Cara.

"Vultures!" Remy sighed, very annoyed at not being able to reach his date.

He walked up behind one of the guys grabbed his shoulder and tossed him backwards. A large number of the others recognized Remy and scattered quickly. One of the few who was left was a tall, lanky teen with too much leather and a spiked, green Mohawk.

"Ya'll wanna move!" Remy growled at who was left.

"Your gal's hot dude," said the Mohawked freak.

"Yeah she is!" Remy said casually, "Now, get away from her before you lose sometin', homme!"

The rest scattered and Remy put the food down on the table. He weakly smiled at Cara, who just sat there nervously. Her nervousness was broken by the glorious smell of a cheeseburger and fries. She looked to see what was, in her mind, the world's most perfect meal…complete with a Coke. Remy assumed she'd think it was cheap, so he just shrugged and gave a weak smile.

"Not exactly a fairy tale date, huh?" he said, with a disappointed sigh.

"It's perfect!" Cara laughed.

She attempted to be "Lady-like" and not completely attack the food in front of her, but in minutes it was gone. The whole time that she was eating, Remy was just talking and making her laugh. It was clear that she really enjoyed his company. When Cara was done eating, Remy grabbed her chair and moved it closer to his. He protectively put his arm around her. She just smiled and picked a French fry off of his plate. He smiled and just looked at her for a minute.

"What?" she laughed.

"What do ya mean 'what'?"

"You're staring at me," she stated.

"Kinda hard not to," she said, pushing a piece of hair away from her face.

She just leaned into him and finished what was left of his food. Every once in a while, the old juke box would play a song that Cara and Remy both agreed that they liked. The next song that came on was one of them. Cara couldn't figure out why, but she loved this song. She pulled away from Remy and stood up.

"Can you dance, Cajun?" she teased.


	2. Chapter 2

"Can you dance, Cajun?" she teased.  
"Yeah, ah can. 'Will I dance?', however, is a different matter," Remy smirked, "No. No, ah won't dance."  
"Aw! Come on, please!" Cara pleaded, with the best pouty face that she could.  
"No."

A few hours after giving in to the first dance (and all of the dances after that), Remy and Cara were seated back at there table. Remy, once again, had his arm wrapped around Cara and was looking around casually. He looked over to see Cara nearly asleep on his shoulder. He nudged her arm gently and woke her up.  
"Cara," he said softly, "Come on. We're goin' on home, alright?"  
"Mm-hmm," Cara hummed softly.  
Remy helped her up and they walked toward the door. He nodded a goodbye to Lance and walked out to the car. By the time that they had gotten back to the hotel, Cara was a bit more awake. He parked the car and they got out. Cara shivered as they walked closer to the hotel. Remy just smiled, took off his jacket, and wrapped it around Cara's shoulders.

Inside the hotel, Brooke paced furiously back and fourth. Jamie just watched the TV, in between her friend's pacing in front of it.  
"I can't believe her!" Brooke protested for the fifteenth time that night, "She just dodged me and ran right out the door with some guy!"  
A sound was heard outside the door and Brooke walked over. She and Cara were having that talk! She threw the door open to find Cara and Remy in the hallway, in a long, deep kiss. Cara wrapped her arms around Remy's neck, completely oblivious to her face palming friend.  
"Ahem!" Brooke interjected rather loudly.  
Her attempt went completely unnoticed.  
"Ahem!" she repeated, quite a bit louder.  
No response.  
"CARA!" she finally interjected, all but screaming.  
Cara finally noticed her friend and broke away from a not-very-happy Cajun.  
"Oh, hey!" Cara said with a nervous laugh.  
Brooke just grabbed her arm, pulled her into the room, and slammed the door.  
"WHO THE HECK IS THAT GUY?!" Brooke demanded.  
"Umm…" Cara started.  
"He says that he's Cara's boyfriend," Jamie added in calmly.  
"You tell me that NOW!" Brooke steamed.  
"I figured you'd already know that," Jamie said sweetly, turning back to the TV.  
"You slammed the door on my date…" Cara noted softly, looking at the door.  
"I'm aware of that," Brooke groaned.  
"I…um…need to give him his jacket back…" Cara continued.  
She slowly walked to the door and opened it up. Remy was standing outside, leaned against the doorframe.  
"It might be time fer me to talk with this gal…" Remy sighed.  
Cara let him in and he followed Cara right up to Brooke.  
"Hi," he smiled, "Ah'm Remy."  
Brooke just stared blankly, trying to read this strange guy in front of her.  
"Ah met Cara the day all the police cars showed up at that jewelry store."  
"So, how exactly did that happen?" Brooke said, stress lacing her normally calm voice. Remy shrugged and figured the truth was gonna be awkward no matter when it came out.  
"The cops were there, because a really expensive necklace was stolen. As it turns out…it was actually planted on Cara. So, ah pulled her outta the crowd and we left."  
"Who would steal that and frame Cara?!" Jamie asked, shocked.  
"Ah did…" Remy laughed nervously, "Ah then may or may not have kidnapped her and gotten out of there with a stolen car. We sorta ran from those cops…all over the state. That's why she disappeared. After she stopped screaming at me, we got along pretty well. Ah dropped the necklace back to the police and we turned back toward here. Ah had been planning to sell it, but she didn't really like that idea. When ah brought her back, ah took off. We met up at the ball that you guys were talked inta goin to and now Ah'm here…most likely about to run."  
Brooke paused for a moment. She glanced at Cara, who nodded in confirmation.  
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" she screamed.  
"Here we go again…" Remy sighed.  
"Why would you do that?! Kidnapping, car chases, and theft is kind if ILLEGAL AND DANGEROUS!" Brooke ranted.  
"Yeah. Kinda mah job," Remy said casually, "The pay is real good."  
Brooke paused for a moment before turning red and lunging toward the Cajun thief. Remy dodged Cara's enraged friend and Cara jumped in between the two.  
"Brooke!" Cara protested, "If you kill my boyfriend, we are going to have problems! Calm down!"  
"YOU DATED THIS FREAK AFTER HE KIDNAPPED YOU!?"  
"Well…kinda," Cara shrugged, "He's really cute!"  
The yelling persisted for quite a while more, before Dorian woke up and walked across the hallway. He walked into the room to see Cara and Brooke diving here and there all over the room. Cara, trying to defend Remy, and Brook…fairly determined to kill him. Jamie had stopped watching the TV when this started. She found this far more entertaining. Dorian just shrugged and sat down on the hotel bed next to Jamie. The argument ended with Brooke landing face down on the other hotel bad and screaming her frustration into the mattress. Remy just stood behind Cara, until he was sure that Brooke wouldn't move. Cara handed him back his jacket. He gave Cara a kiss and darted to the door.  
"See ya around, Gorgeous," he smiled, before he left.  
A few minutes of silence felt like hours for Cara.  
"That went much better than I thought it would!" Dorian stated happily.  
Jamie just looked up at him and burst into laughter. She laughed so hard that her face turned red and she fell backwards onto the bed. Dorian followed suit and broke out laughing, himself.

The next morning was eerily quiet. Jamie just sat at breakfast, very close to Dorian, and looked back and fourth between Cara and Brooke.  
"What were you thinking?" Brooke finally asked.  
"I stopped thinking somewhere between being kidnapped and kissing him the first time," Cara sighed, "He's pretty good at that last part."  
"This guy's crazy, hon!" Brooke said, worry seeping through her tired voice.  
"I know. He already admitted to that one. He's just so…sweet and confident and cute and…" Cara rambled dreamily.  
"Focus, gal!" Brooke said, breaking her out of her thoughts.  
"He has the most beautiful eyes…" Cara sighed wistfully.  
"Hon…you're losin' it!"  
"I've never seen that odd eye color before. It's definitely not normal, but it's so pretty," Cara continued regardless of what Brooke said.  
"What's so special about his eye color?" Jamie asked.  
"His eyes are…red," Cara stated, "and black…"  
"Okay! There's your warning, Cara!" Brooke interjected, "Is that not enough of a sign for you!? That's just…creepy!"  
"I wonder why they're like that…" Cara smiled.  
"What you need is a vacation from this vacation! Our flight leaves in a few hours. We are going home!"  
"That's nice…WHAT?!" Cara said, having just realized what her friend was saying. Jamie just shrugged. As long as she had Duce, Jamie didn't care where they were headed.  
"We can't just…go!" Cara panicked.  
"Hon, at some point, we have to go home! And I think sooner is better here!"

The next few hours seemed gloomy and slow for Cara. She had accepted that they had to leave, but her heart was screaming to just run and find Remy. She really didn't want to leave. Not this vacation, not this state, not him! She packed anyway. In the end, her head generally won the fight. Packing was increasingly difficult with all the things that Remy had bought her. She looked through all of the new things and she couldn't help of remember that only the day before, she was running from store to store with  
Remy buying stuff that she knew she didn't need. It was, by far, the best shopping trip that she had ever been on. She'd only been in the state for about a week, but she already knew how hard it would be to leave.

Sooner than Cara would have ever liked, she was standing at the airport, ready to board the plane to New York. From then, Will would pick the three of them up and drive them all back to their own apartments or houses. Brooke was happy to be headed home. This vacation had proved very stressful to everyone…except Cara.  
"You okay, Cara?" Jamie asked, looking at her rather forlorn friend.  
"I didn't even get to say goodbye…" Cara choked, "I'm gonna go get a crappy overpriced airline water bottle for the trip."  
Cara walked toward an airline vendor, but was stopped by that same weird feeling that she'd had at the masked ball. She turned around and saw someone walking up to her. Familiar smirk and dark shades, met her sight.  
"Ya know, it's rude ta leave after a disaster of a date like that and not even give me yer number," Remy laughed.  
"What are you doing here? How did you get past the gate?" Cara asked.  
"Ah told the guy at the gate that ah had to say goodbye before mah girl took off to who knows where."  
"New York."  
"Well…isn't that interestin'…"  
Remy smiled and handed something to Cara.  
"See ya around, Cher."


	3. Author's Note

Hey, everyone. I'm not sure if I'll continue with this story or not. It hasn't done remarkably well, so I may just start a newer story instead. If you'd like to see more of this story, leave me a comment. If I get enough comments, then I'll keep going. If not, thanks anyway for reading. Please Read and Review.

~Mischief's Angel


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey, everyone. Thanks for the comments. I LOVE hearing what people think about my stories, so keep commenting. This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but it's a bridge to the next part of the story. Enjoy!**

**~Mischief's Angel**

* * *

On the plane, Brooke sat next to Cara and Jamie and Dorian sat in the row behind them. Cara fiddled with the object in her hand that Remy had given her and stared out the window.  
"What's that?" Brooke asked, sliding her purse under her seat.  
"Nothing," Cara sighed, taking another look at the object.  
The object was nothing more than a usual playing card. To Cara it just looked like a queen of hearts. She sighed and put the card in her pocket.  
"This is going to be a depressing plane ride," she thought to herself.  
She silently recalled how this crazy vacation happened. It seemed that the whole trip played in her mind. Somehow she knew this was only the start of her crazy adventure. Remy just might be crazy, but he knew what he was doing and Cara knew she'd see him again.

Cara was, once again, startled awake by the sound of her phone. She woke up and rolled to her side to answer her phone. She read the ID on the phone, but really didn't want to take a call from her boss right now. She sat up and looked around. Her apartment was just as dull and trashed as it always was. Nothing interesting had happened in so long that she just got used to it. It had been almost two years since her trip to Louisiana and she had adjusted back to her usual life remarkably fast. The only noteworthy thing that had happened since the trip was that Jamie and Dorian had finally agreed on a wedding date and gotten married. They were with Dorian's family in England right now. Cara was happy for them, but couldn't help feel a pang of jealousy when she saw them happy and always on some adventure.

Cara trudged into the kitchen and got started on morning coffee. Normally she would have been at work by now, but she decided to take a few days off, since she hadn't taken time off since her last vacation. She rarely thought about the Louisiana trip anymore. When she'd gotten home from the trip, she was still hopeful that Remy would find some way to show up out of nowhere again. She waited for months, but after the first year rolled by, she gave up on that idea.

As she poured her coffee, Cara's phone went off again. This time, thankfully, it wasn't her boss calling to ask her to come in on her vacation.  
"Hey, Brooke," she said, answering the call, "What's up?"  
"Nothin' really," Brooke replied, "I haven't heard from you in days, so I thought I'd check in on you. Are you doing okay?"  
"As good as can be expected," Cara sighed.  
"Will and I are going to the movies today. Wanna come?" Brooke offered.  
"I'd love to, but I hate being a third wheel. You two have fun."  
"You won't be a third wheel!" Brooke insisted, "Because…"  
"Blind double date?" Cara guessed, interrupting Brooke.  
"Maybe."  
"For the last time! I am fine being alone! I don't need a guy!"  
"Cara, you have scared off or turned down every perfectly nice guy I introduce you to! Just come to the movie. You barely have to talk to him," her friend pleaded.  
"Not interested," Cara stated flatly.  
"You haven't been 'interested' since Louisiana! When are you going to let him go?"  
Awkward phone silence.  
"Cara?" Brooke said quietly.  
"I have to go," Cara sighed as she ended the call.

The rest of that day, Cara spent on her couch. She shoveled another bite of chocolate ice cream into her mouth as some dull movie played on the TV. She looked out the window and noticed that it had already grown dark. She just sighed and went back to her ice cream.  
"Another day of nothing," She thought to herself.  
Just when she had relaxed back onto the couch, she heard something odd outside. She walked to the window and looked down at the alley below her window and noticed a bunch of guys that could only be described as a high tech SWAT team. They searched up and down the alley and then moved on. Meanwhile, a heavily armored military-looking car drove down the street slowly.  
"They're obviously looking for something," she thought, "or someone."

The sound of MRD soldiers grew louder. Gambit had been dodging this one troop for hours now. He could tell by the approaching footsteps that it was time to movie. He disappeared from his hiding place in the shadow of a small building and ran silently down the street. He was all too used to running now. The past two years had been a bad turn for any mutants, much more so to those who were considered 'especially dangerous'…those like himself. His only error was to look back over his shoulder. One of the soldiers' lights caught his silhouette and alerted them to where he was. He picked up the pace and all but flew down the street. He ducked quickly into an alley and hoped to lose them there.  
"Great job, LeBeau," he sighed to himself, "Break out of a mutant prison, only to end up hidin' behind a dumpster. Today been just perfect!"  
He saw a slight increase in light in the alley. He looked up to see that it came from someone opening the curtains of their window. It was a young woman that looked like…  
"No," he thought to himself, "It can't be."


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey, everyone. I was originally planning to abandon this story, because I don't have a lot of time to go back to it. Also, it wasn't doing remarkably well, so I figured it wasn't popular. But, thanks to an awesome review I got recently, I realized that some people do like the story. Therefore, I'll try to make time to work more on it. Maybe I'll even add some more familiar mutants. ;-) **

**Thanks for the great reviews!**

**~Mischief's Angel**

* * *

Cara settled back down on her couch and, as soon as she did, she heard a much closer noise. She quickly looked back out her window. She didn't see anything out in the dark until, to her horror, a gloved hand knocked on the window right in front of her. She could make out the silhouette standing on the fire escape, but couldn't tell who it was. She saw the "SWAT Team", that had been searching the alley, come back down the alley. The dark silhouette knocked faster and harder. She backed away from the window and nearly tripped backing up. She would have run to her room if she hadn't heard a muffled: "Cara!" through the window. She slowly inched closer to the window, but it was opened from the outside before she opened it. The man from the fire escape came inside, shut the window, and re-closed the curtains. He stood quietly facing the window, before turning to face Cara.

"REMY!" Cara practically screamed, realizing who it was.  
Remy quickly ran over to her and put his hand over her mouth.

"Shh!" he gestured, "You still make too much noise for ya own good, Cher."  
Cara muttered, but it was muffled by the hand that remained on her mouth.

"You gonna be quiet?" Remy asked calmly.

Cara just nodded. Remy slowly pulled his hand back and stepped back. Cara noticed that he had some sort of subtle body armor on under a black, leather trench coat. His boots were also subtly armor plated. He looked nervous, relieved, and exhausted all at the same time.

"So, you don't so much as call in two years," Cara said fairly quietly, "And now you're going to show up at my apartment, in body armor, being chased by those freaky government guys?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Remy said, matter-of-factly.

"So, they really are looking for you?" Cara asked, afraid of the answer.

"Yeah, it kinda sucks," Remy sighed, "And they're still lookin'."

Remy turned off the lamp nearest to the window and glanced outside.

"Stay away from the window fer a while," Remy said, walking back over to Cara.

"This is…just…" Cara stuttered for a while.

"It doesn't really make sense. I know. Just….don't freak out," Remy sighed.

"Explain to me what the heck is going on!" Cara demanded.

"You don't want to know, okay. Just stay outta this one."

"Um…you just broke into my house. TOO LATE!" Cara yelled angrily.

"Would you stay quiet?!"

Cara nodded, and Remy sank down to sit under the window. He cringed slightly as he did so. Cara noticed something odd. He was holding his right side whenever he moved. She knelt down in front of him and moved his arm. He didn't have the energy to struggle with her, so he let her. Blood was slowly running down his side from what looked like a bullet wound.

"Oh, my gosh!" Cara panicked, remembering to stay quiet this time.

"It's nothin'. Nothin' bad anyway."

"You got shot! That's bad!" Cara stated, "Please tell me you aren't running from cops again!"

"They're no cops. They're hunters."

"Hunters of what? People?!"

"Only certain people," Remy sighed, "And Ah'm leavin' it at that."

"First things first, let's get that fixed," Cara said, gesturing to his side.

"Agreed," he cringed, standing up.


	6. Chapter 5

**Apologies for the slow update. Life gets crazy busy, but I hope to update more very soon. Thanks for reading! **

* * *

It wasn't long before Cara got some medical supplies together (the best ones she could anyway).

"Why, exactly, aren't we going to…oh, I don't know…a hospital?" Cara asked.

"They won't help me," Remy said, calmly.

"They can help more than I can!"

"Yeah, but they won't.

"So, did they see you come up here?" Cara asked nervously.

"Don't think so. The general idea was to keep 'em out of yer house!" Remy laughed weakly.

"Good idea," Cara commented, "So, if you had black body armor, which I'm not even going to ask about, why did you still get shot?"

"The 'armor' is only for distance shots. It won't keep you from being shot by a gun that's five inches away. The plan was to never get close to those thugs, but…plans change," Remy explained.

"Five inches? And you're alive?" Cara said flatly, getting TOO used to these situations, "Let me guess, 'thieving' again."

"No, not anymore." Remy sighed.

"Then what?" an irritated Cara insisted.

"Ah…can't really say."

"You never can," Cara groaned with an irritated expression.

"Alright, what's dat face for?" Remy sighed.

"You always show up, you can never tell me what you're up to, I always end up in imminent danger, and you just expect me to be okay with everything. I just want to know what's going on before you drag me strait into it."

Cara helped Remy remove the body armor and she started to clean the bullet wound as well as she could. Remy remained calm and quiet the entire time.

"Let's start by talking about how you're so calm," Cara suggested.

"This isn't the first time this has happened, so ah guess Ah'm gettin used to it."

"I'd be worried, but I'm really not surprised anymore."

"That much is obvious," Remy laughed.

"At least we're making progress. Now keep talking."

"Those men that were chasin me are from a government supported agency. Said agency has a lot of really dangerous information. That information recently encountered a virus and only one copy remains."

"What kind of virus?" Cara asked.

"Their main building unexpectedly blew up. Someone planted charges and destroyed it. Whoever that was got away with the last copy of the data files."

"Let me guess…"

Before Cara could finish, Remy pulled a black flash drive out of the pocket of his coat, which was tossed onto Cara's coffee table.

"I guess dey really wanted it back, huh," he laughed.

"You told me this wasn't a thief issue!" Cara shouted.

"Technically it wasn't," Remy said, trying to calm her down, "Normally Ah'm hired to steal things. This was nothing more than a little favor. It ain't so bad."

"Oh, you're right," Cara said sarcastically, "There's just a government agency trying to kill you. It's not so bad!"

"It could be a lot worse. Least the bullet went all the way through…"

"At least?!"

"Okay, we really need to work on your volume levels when you panic."

Cara sat back and stayed quiet.

"Thank you. Now, if the shot hadn't gone through, I'd have to get it out. See the problem?"

Cara nodded.

"The shot was a misfire, so it just nicked me. I'll live."

"So, why'd you take the data?" Cara asked.

Remy hesitated for a moment.

"How much of the news d'ya watch?"

"I stopped watching when it turned into nothing but reports on the "mutant issue". The arguing about that gets old."

"Tell me about it," Remy chuckled, "Anyway, the files ah took aren't just data. They're the names of every mutant ever registered or reported to the Mutant "Control Agency". See why that's kinda important."

"But the agency is supposed to be optional. It's a place people can get help."

"That's a cute idea," Remy almost laughed, "Too bad it's a lie. Everyone that's registered with those fools has been exposed to blatant hostility and some have been hunted down and arrested…or worse. The the agency sends their response team out to hunt down any known targets. They're freak hunters."

"That's terrible! If the government knew what the agency was really doing-"

"That's the worst part, Chere. They do know."

"And they just let it happen?! That's not fair!"

"If life were ta suddenly get fair, ah doubt it would start now. Ah just leverled the field a little. Now they got no identified targets to go after."

"Who sent you to do this?" Cara asked, remembering that this was all a "favor".

"Dat I can't tell you. What's it matter to you anyway? You're no mutant. You got nothin to worry about."

"Are you testing me?"

"Uh…yeah."

"It wouldn't matter if I were a mutant or not, this still isn't right! Only a small handful of mutants have ever posed a real threat and because of that everyone loses their minds? That's just crazy."

"You have no idea how glad I am ta hear you say that." Remy smiled at her with the first genuine smile he had used in years.

"You're one of them, aren't you? Because of your eyes?"

Remy nodded silently. He look as though he were bracing for the worst.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Right, because you take these things so well," Remy commented, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Fair enough."


	7. Chapter 6

As they continued talking, the loud and unwanted sound of the phone interrupted. Cara quickly went to answer it.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Cara! I need your help! It's urgent!" the voice shouted.

"Jamie, what's the problem now?"

"I don't know if you remember this or not, Cara, but I am getting married in two weeks! Everything's going wrong and I need your help!" Jamie fussed, "I am coming over there!"

"Um…not a good idea. I really can't deal with this right now!" Cara groaned, thinking of a way out of this.

"I need your help!"

"I have a bleeding Cajun on my freaking couch! I can't help now!" Cara shouted as she hung up the phone.

Remy laughed at Cara's reaction, and in return was given an un-amused glare.

Meanwhile, Jamie called Brooke and the two headed over to Cara's apartment as fast as one can on a busy New York night.

"So, were you like born with red eyes?" Cara asked.

Remy paused a minute and stared at the floor. Cara thought that she had struck a nerve and was going to back out of the conversation, but Remy finally answered.

"Yeah, ah was," he sighed, "Can we not talk about that anymore right now?"

"Umm…sure," Cara said, in an understanding way that made the Cajun smile.

Remy pushed a blonde curl out of Cara's face and tilted her chin up to look at him.

"Gosh…" he said, barely audible.

"What?" Cara asked, awkwardly.

"You are so beautiful," Remy stated, smiling more.

After a few minutes, there was a loud pounding on Cara's door.

"Cara! It's Brooke and Jamie! Open up!"

"Oh…no no no no no!" Cara stuttered as she scrambled to her feet and locked the door. She then grabbed Remy's arm. Remy sighed and grabbed his sunglasses from his jacket pocket and allowed Cara to drag him wherever it was she was trying to get him to go. After ending up shoved in Cara's closet, Remy pulled out his phone and sent out a message.

Meanwhile, Cara scrambled to hide the evidence of him being there. Her friends simply continued to yell through the door. After kicking Remy's jacket under the couch and throwing a blanket over the blood stain on it, Cara finally opened the door enough to stick her head out.

"Hi, now's not a good time. Thanks for stopping bye. See you later!"

"Wait! Cara! We need to talk to you!" Jamie protested.

Brooke finally managed to push the door open and the two walked in.

"What's going on with you?" Brooke asked Cara.

"Yeah, I need help with my wedding here!" Jamie started, "The catering is using the wrong kind of chicken, the cake is supposed to be Swiss chocolate not German chocolate, the napkins are the wrong shade of violet so they'll class with the decorative flowers-"

"Jamie!" Brooke cut her off.

"Nothing's going on. I'm fine. Goodbye," Cara said, urging her friends to the door.

"I think something is actually up!" Brooke insisted.

"Why do you say that?" Cara asked, nervously.

"Because there's a bloody shirt on the arm of your couch," Brooke noted.

Cara mentally slapped herself for missing that. Meanwhile there was a loud ringing noise coming from Cara's room. Before Cara could block the door, Brooke hurried down the hall to see what the noise was. The ringing stopped when Brooke reached the room. She looked around and saw nothing. When the ringing suddenly started again, she realized that it was coming from the closet. Brooke opened the closet to find Remy standing inside laughing and cursing his cell phone at the same time.

"CARA!" Brooke screamed.

Cara walked in and noticed the murderous look on her friend's face.

"There's a funny explanation for this," Cara laughed awkwardly.

She couldn't see past the dark glasses, but she knew Remy was rolling his eyes at her.

"It you! You're the crazy guy from Louisiana!" Brooke panicked.

"Ya recognized me. How sweet."

"What are you doing here?! What the heck are you doing here?!"

Brooke dove into her purse looking for her phone, but as soon as she pulled it out Remy rushed past her, taking the phone with him.

"Not the best thing to do right now," he said calmly.

"Just calm down!" Cara yelled.

"Is that blood?!" Jamie noticed, gesturing at the wound on Remy's side.

"Uh…yeah," Remy admitted.

Remy casually walked into the living room and examined what was left of his bloody shirt.

"Dat's not gonna work any more," he observed, before using the shirt as a bandage around his waist.

He then grabbed his jacket from its not-so-great hiding place under the couch.

"This is not okay!" Brooke yelled, as if Cara hadn't understood her frustration the first time.

"Hey, Chere," Remy said calmly, "Do ya remember in Louisiana how yer friends got mad at you for following me out the door and runnin off?"

"Yeah," Cara laughed, "I remember that."

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT-" Brooke started as Remy and Cara bolted out the front door and disappeared down the hall.

"That gal is going to get herself killed!" Brooke objected before running after them.

Jamie calmly followed Brooke, but by the time they got down to the apartment building's parking lot, Cara's car peeled out and onto the street.

"Are we seriously doing this again?!" Cara laughed.

"Oh, yeah!" Remy replied, driving Cara's car onto a back road, "What's the worst that could happen?"


	8. Chapter 7

Cara woke up in the passenger seat of her car. The car was parked at what looked like a scenic parking area overlooking a very green landscape.

"Did we leave New York," she thought to herself, "Because it is not this green!"

She looked around to see the driver's seat empty. More searching showed that the driver was sitting outside on the rail above the landscape. He had a plain black t-shirt, that was no doubt a replacement for the ruined shirt that he had used as a bandage. He also had a pair of worn grey jeans, paired with his usual boots. Cara got out of the car and walked over next to where he was sitting.

"What'd I miss," she asked, taking a deep breath of fresh air.

"A heck of a lot a boring roads," Remy laughed.

"You feel okay?" Cara asked.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, you did just get shot yesterday."

"Oh, right. Ah'm just fine."

Cara hooked her arm through his and leaned against his shoulder.

"I gotta hand it to you, Cajun. You sure know how to show a girl a good time," Cara laughed, looking out at the blue sky.

"Well, it never gets boring anyway," Remy replied, smiling at her.

"Where are we anyway?" Cara asked.

"Near Westchester, New York," he said plainly.

"I never knew that New York could get this...green," Cara noted.

"Well, this is the-middle-of-nowhere New York."

"Ah, I see."

"Breakfast is in the car if yer hungry."

Cara walked back to the car, and noticed a restaurant bag in the driver's seat. in the cupholder between the seats was a large iced Frappe that looked like it was half chocolate. Cara opened the bag and pulled out a breakfast sandwich that reeked of cheese and bacon.

"Sometimes I wonder how you always manage to get the perfect food," Cara said, looking back over at Remy.

"It's easy, Chere. You got good taste," he laughed, walking over to the car.

Cara resumed her place in the passenger's seat and took a massive drink of her iced coffee. Remy sat back in the driver's seat and laughed as Cara got a chocolate induced brain freeze.

"Any good?" he asked.

"Perfect," she answered, before chowing down on a bacon biscuit.

After breakfast, Remy rolled to windows down and turned the radio on. Cara cringed as country started playing. She immediately changed the station. Remy, of course, changed it to a third station after protesing 80s hits. Twelve radio stations and three arguments later, the two finally settled on music.

"So, why Westchester?" Cara asked.

"Ya know that friend that ah'm doin the favor for? We're meetin him up here."

"Oh, that makes sense. Is it bad that you brought me along?"

"Course not," Remy smirked, "Wouldn't be much fun without you."

"Where were you?"

"What do ya mean, Chere?"

"Remy, you disappeared for two years. Where were you all that time?" Cara asked again.

"Gettin by," was the answer.

"Am I ever going to get a straight answer from you?" Cara chuckled.

"We'll see," Remy smirked, "Fer now, ya don't even need ta worry about it."

"I missed you," Cara muttered, before taking another drink of her frappe.

Remy sighed and gave her an almost confused look.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," Cara said, continuing to mutter her words.

"And why's that?"

Cara didn't answer this time. She just sat silently. Remy took her hand in his partially gloved one and held onto it. With the other, he tilted her head toward him. He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss. He then pulled back, right after whispering "Ah missed you too.".


End file.
